The Doors, Part 2
Manage episode 378454426 series 3465946
Welcome to Rock & Roll Flashback! I'm Jumpin' John, and today's podcast will cover the final years, starting in 1969, of the career of one of the great American rock bands: the Doors! Among other things I will review the little known role of the Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian in a Doors' recording - and the origin of Mr. Mojo Risin! So break on through and take a few minutes to listen to The Doors, Part 2!
As I mentioned in the companion podcast, The Doors, Part 1, the single "Touch Me" was released in December 1968. It reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in the Cashbox Top 100 in early 1969. It would end up being the Doors' third and last American #1 single.
On March 1, 1969, at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, Florida, the Doors gave the most controversial performance of their career. The 7,000 capacity auditorium had no air conditioning on that warm night. The seats had been removed by the promoter to boost ticket sales, resulting in a restless, overflow crowd of 10,600. Morrison arrived drunk, and the concert started an hour late. Morrison had recently attended a play by an experimental theater group and was inspired by their "antagonistic" style of performance art. So, from the very first song, Morrison taunted the crowd. Things unraveled quickly on stage. Morrison started and stopped in mid song. He peppered the crowd with questions, obscene requests, and four-letter words. The audience grew angry, hurling insults. Morrison took his shirt off, and some in the audience started taking their clothes off. Morrison held his shirt in front of his groin area and supposedly made hand movements behind it. Four days later the Dade County Sheriff's office issued a warrant for Morrison's arrest, claiming Morrison had exposed his penis while on stage and shouted obscenities to the crowd. Morrison was offered a plea bargain that required the Doors to perform a free Miami concert, but he turned it down. So he was convicted and sentenced to six months in jail with hard labor, and ordered to pay a $500 fine. Morrison remained free, pending an appeal of his conviction, but he would tragically die before the matter was legally resolved. Interestingly, his three band mates all denied the allegation that Morrison exposed himself on stage that night.
All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John, and the basic track was recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004.
Multiple promo videos and photos for Rock and Roll Flashback Podcasts are available on the following social media sites:
https://www.youtube.com/@RockandRollFlashback
https://www.facebook.com/rockandrollflashbackpodcast
https://www.instagram.com/jumpinjohnmcdermott/
Bill and John welcome your feedback and comments, and they can be emailed to rockandrollflashback@outlook.com.
Thank you for listening to Rock and Roll Flashback Podcasts!
Until next time...
Rock On!
96 episodes